Twitter shares tumbles 17% as monthly users decline

Twitter shares tumbled by 17% after a drop in their monthly users was announced.

The company’s stock declined today as quarterly results showed a drop in users of the messaging platform, overshadowing news of a third straight quarterly profit.

Reports that the monthly active users fell by one million from the past quarter to 335 million in the period amid a purge of fake accounts and a crackdown on “bots” that manipulate the platform, overshadowed a profit of $100 million in the second quarter as revenue rose 24 percent to $711 million.

Shares in Twitter slumped 16 percent in pre-opening trades in a market jittery following a weak outlook from social network leader Facebook.